The field of the disclosure relates generally to aircraft engine monitoring, and more particularly, to aircraft engine diagnostics, including the usage of an antenna embedded composite panel that wirelessly facilitates transmission of engine data through a nacelle.
Known aircraft engines typically are enclosed in a nacelle that protects the complex engine components from foreign objects that include flying debris and birds. The nacelle also provides an aerodynamic fairing for the aircraft engine and provides a flow path for engine thrust. Moreover, minimizing weight is crucial in aircraft and nacelle construction, and many known nacelles are manufactured with aluminum or a carbon fiber reinforced polymer material that is light-weight, durable, strong, and capable of meeting the structural and functional requirements of the aircraft propulsion system, including protecting and supporting the weight of the engine. However, materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer highly attenuate radio and wireless signals, and thus, it remains difficult to wirelessly and directly transmit and receive engine data to/from outside the nacelle through these types of materials. As a result, aircraft engine maintenance crews must open or remove one or more fan cowls or use a service panel or door in order to acquire engine data captured by an engine control unit. This type of manual inspection and manual engine data acquisition is time consuming and expensive because of both the labor and the need to shut down the engine. Manual data acquisition may be done only when the aircraft makes a shop maintenance visit, and as a result, timely data is not available. Moreover, manual engine data acquisition poses greater risk of damage to the engine and nacelle during the engine data acquisition process.